House Committee Asks for Questioning with Andrew in Epstein Investigation
A US congressional body looking into sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, once Britain’s Prince Andrew, requesting that he participate in a deposition as part of its investigation into Epstein’s wrongdoings.
In a letter published on Thursday, a California congressman, the senior Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s brother help with its probe.
The formal request to answer questions arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his HRH style and opted to vacate his rented residence in Windsor.
Records and Allegations
Mountbatten Windsor’s name is listed in records and aviation records obtained from Epstein’s estate and made public by the committee. He has also been accused by one of Epstein’s victims, the late Virginia Giuffre, of sexual assault.
“The committee will investigate accusations of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek details on Epstein’s network, associates, and accomplices based on the men’s long-term and thoroughly recorded friendship,” the committee said in a statement.
It requested details from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York prison cell in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly vehemently rejected any wrongdoing.
Content of the Letter
“It has been widely reported that your association with Mr Epstein started in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 conviction for trafficking underage girls for prostitution,” the letter said.
It added: “It has also been claimed that you went with Epstein to his New York residence, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been charged of harming young girls. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, combined with the recently revealed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our concern that you may have important details about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his accomplices.”
A notification regarding the letter said it was supported by 13 other Democrats on the committee and asks a reply by 20 November.
Previous Statements and Collaboration
The letter follows a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be summoned to testify before the committee. The people deserves to know who was harming women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”
However, the lawmaker does not have the power to legally require the former prince and Congress itself cannot force testimony from a overseas individual.
In 2020, US agencies said that Mountbatten Windsor did not cooperate to US demands for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that prosecutors and the FBI had approached Andrew’s lawyers to follow up on his public commitment that he was “ready to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.
“It’s fair for people to know whether Prince Andrew has honored with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “offered no cooperation”.
Demands for Justice
The congressman said in a comment that “wealthy and powerful men have escaped the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the opportunity to tell the truth and secure redress for the survivors. The committee will not halt fighting for accountability and transparency for survivors of Epstein and his gang of co-conspirators.”
Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after listening to evidence to the committee from Epstein’s accusers, as well as news accounts of leaked documents, “it is vital that Andrew assists with the active probe. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”
The lawmaker stated further: “And if not, our investigation will demonstrate that, and the victims will receive belated accountability. The royal household’s actions taking away Andrew of his styles suggest there is more to this story.”
The letter came on the same day the British king formally revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his princely title. Charles III publicly made the alteration – which had been declared a week ago – by issuing a “official document” which the monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record.
